Leg over Leg recounts the life, from birth to middle age, of 'the Fariyaq,' alter ego of Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a pivotal figure in the intellectual and literary history of the modern Arab world. The always edifying and often hilarious adventures of the Fariyaq, as he moves from his native Lebanon to Egypt, Malta, Tunis, England and France, provide the author with grist for wide-ranging discussions of the intellectual and social issues of his time, including the ignorance and corruption of the Lebanese religious and secular establishments, freedom of conscience, women's rights, sexual relationships between men and women, the manners and customs of Europeans and Middle Easterners, and the differences between contemporary European and Arabic literatures. Al-Shidyaq also celebrates the genius and beauty of the classical Arabic language. Akin to Sterne and Rabelais in his satirical outlook and technical inventiveness, al-Shidyaq produced in Leg over Leg a work that is unique and unclassifiable. It was initially widely condemned for its attacks on authority, its religious skepticism, and its "obscenity," and later editions were often abridged. This is the first English translation of the work and reproduces the original Arabic text, published under the author's supervision in 1855. A bilingual Arabic-English edition.
Letter from the General Editor iiiVolume Two 1Contents of the Book 4Chapter 1: Rolling a Boulder 8Chapter 2: A Salutation and a Conversation 38Chapter 3: The Extraction of the Fariyaq from Alexandria, by Sail 62Chapter 4: A Throne to Gain Which Man Must Make Moan 84Chapter 5: A Description of Cairo 104Chapter 6: Nothing 114Chapter 7: A Description of Cairo 116Chapter 8: Notice that the Description of Cairo is Ended 122Chapter 9: That to Which I Have Alluded 134Chapter 10: A Doctor 142Chapter 11: The Fulfillment of What He Promised Us 150Chapter 12: Poems for Princes 160Chapter 13: A Maqamah to Make You Sit 174Chapter 14: An Explanation of the Obscure Words in the PrecedingMaqamah and Their Meanings 186Chapter 15: Right There! 292Chapter 16: Right Here! 294Chapter 17: Elegy for a Donkey 370Chapter 18: Various Forms of Sickness 382Chapter 19: The Circle of the Universe and the Center of This Book 390Chapter 20: Miracles and Supernatural Acts 400Notes 409Glossary 433Index 436About the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute 444About the Typefaces 445About the Editor-Translator 446
